As of 2022, there is no national school meal programme in Norway. In primary schools, packed lunches are commonly brought from home, although most schools offer paid subscription schemes for fruit and milk.  Municipalities offer an after-school service for the youngest children (grades 1–4), and the majority of them provide an afternoon meal, whereas breakfast is usually brought from home. Schools have a large degree of autonomy in organizing the schedule and meals in the school and after-school service.

In 2015, the Directorate of Health published comprehensive National Guidelines on Food and Meals in Schools for three separate age groups: primary schools and after-school programmes (grades 1-7); lower secondary (grades 8-10); and higher secondary (grades 11-13). The guidance is advisory in nature and contains 21 recommendations, each of which is presented with an evidence base and an elaboration of the recommendation, as well as practical advice on implementation.

The guidelines apply to any foods and beverages provided during the school day, including food and beverage vending machines on school grounds and on school trips. The guidelines also cover social and organizational aspects of mealtimes, as well as food safety, hygiene, and environmental considerations. The Norwegian Education Act, Public Health Act and Food Act and accompanying regulations provide the applicable framework legislation for meals in schools and for out-of-school clubs.

The main characteristics of these standards are summarized below:

Development process

The current Guidelines on Food and Meals in Schools (2015) are based on a set of earlier guidelines on school meals (in the form of a poster) from 2003. These were revised following findings of a nationwide survey of food and meals in schools conducted by the Directorate of Health in 2013. An external reference group comprising 14 organizations, including public-sector institutions, schools, local and county authorities, supported the Directorate of Health in the process. The Norwegian National Centre for Food, Health and Physical Activity, set up in 2014, was a key partner in the process as it is involved in both the health and education sectors.

Revisions of the guidelines are planned, to align with updates to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2022 that will be published by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2023.

Implementation

Hard copies of the 2015 guidelines and a poster were sent to all schools, and email links to the online version were sent to all municipalities, in October 2015.  The following year, 13 regional dissemination conferences (duration of 5–6 hours) were organized to present the revised guidance and available nutrition education programmes to schools and municipalities, and served as a platform for sharing best practice.

The Directorate of Health provides online training for caterers and others responsible for food in schools based on the guidelines. The training covers meal planning, healthy recipes, how to promote healthy items, even shopping lists, and provides a course diploma.  

The Food Jungle initiative is for both primary after-school programmes and kindergartens, to engage children in healthy and more sustainable eating. It has activities for children, led by the staff who work in the after-school programme and undergo relevant training. Food Jungle was developed on behalf of the Ministry of Health in 2017 by a social entrepreneur, with formal agreements signed by head teachers and the head of education in each municipality. The Food Jungle has been evolving and expanding ever since.

Another initiative, Fiskesprell, brings together caterers and staff in schools and kindergartens to cook fish and have presentations from nutritionists, with the aim of increasing knowledge about and cooking more fish in after-school programmes and kindergartens.

In 2017, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education sent a joint letter to every school in Norway where they stated the importance of giving the students at least 20 minutes for eating.

Research in Norwegian primary schools showed that implementation of the national school meal guidelines was low. The Directorate of Health plans to increase implementation support to schools by encouraging action at various levels, including a closer collaboration between the health and education authorities, coordinated action at municipal level, and through tools to support implementation at school level, such as whole-school discussions on meal practices, and teachers’ facilitation for social meals. 

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation of guidance for food in schools is not carried out on a regular basis. Data is gathered via questionnaires to head teachers, including “Questions to School Norway”, which includes questions about food and nutrition in schools (2017 and 2022).

Go to the summary of the standards

Food and nutrition education is integrated within the national school core curriculum, with the latest edition of the curriculum launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Education. Since it was introduced in Norwegian schools in the late 1800s, the subject was known as domestic economy, housekeeping and home economics, but in 2006, the name changed to food and health ("Mat og helse"). There are two interdisciplinary topics that relate to food and health: health and life skills, and sustainable development. Core competencies are compulsory for these topics: for grades 1-7 (a total of 114 hours for all seven years) and for grades 8-10 (a total of 83 hours for all three years). Education on nutrition aspects is also embedded in other subjects such as science and general studies. 

Development

The curricula for all subjects were revised between 2018-2019 and launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Education. Groups of teachers, educators and other professionals worked together with the Directorate of Education and Training to develop the curricula. The new food and health education curriculum was part of this revision process, and now includes more focus on cooking and health than before.  

Implementation

Monitoring and Evaluation